Olaf & Manuela Brellenthin

Olaf & Manuela Brellenthin

Thailand

After ten years in the UK and fifteen years in Thailand the Brellenthins they have returned to their homeland of Germany. The whole re-entry process hit them hard. Reverse culture shock can be difficult to handle. This is really something that needs our support and understanding.

Their main responsibilities in Germany lie in working with a Christian charity that offers pastoral support to asylum seekers and refugees in Bavaria. They are encouraged by the warm response from local churches, but in their own words: “Working among asylum seekers and refugees from many different ethnic backgrounds is both challenging and rewarding.”

Indeed. It is always challenging to meet people who either by personal choice or driven through fear find themselves living in close proximity, regardless of gender, race, religion or language. Sometimes the only thing they have in common is that they are stateless. One example will suffice:

TK was a 10-year- old boy soldier in the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga (military forces), and was forced into the armed conflict. Thirty years later he had become an asylum seeker in Germany. He met Christians who helped him integrate while he was awaiting court proceedings. His application was successful. A former communist who hated Christians, he was deeply affected by God’s love expressed through his new friends. He came to faith, was baptized and now helps other asylum seekers in the outreach café.

Olaf and Manuela continue to maintain and develop existing projects in Thailand, Burma and Laos, and at the moment they re-visit these places each year. Over many years they have shown themselves to be dedicated, determined and wanting to continue to find out and fulfil the Lord’s calling on their lives. You cannot meet them without being touched by their sincerity and faithfulness.